Wendy from A Baguette on my Table has tagged me to:

"List one fact, word or tidbit that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your first or middle name. You can theme it to your blog or make it general. Then tag one person for each letter of your name."

S:  Sablonneuse; a literal translation of my name Sandy. However, I'm no longer a 'beach' person. Years ago I could spend hours sunbathing/reading but nowadays I don't like the heat.

A: Animals and Allergy. Despite being allergic to cats there is no way I'd part with any of them. It wasn't till I retired and spent more time in the house that my allergy appeared and it was some time before they discovered the cause of my blocked nose. A combination of homeopathic 'cat fur' and traditional medication controls the problem.

N: Norwich and Norfolk: my home since I was two. Although I grew up there and was very happy I have no regrets about retiring to France. On the few occasions I've been back the changes in Norwich have made it barely recognisable nowadays. What I do miss is friends and family but, fortunately we can keep in touch by phone and email and they come to visit us pretty regularly.

D: Daydreaming: something I like doing to keep sane(?) - or not - as the case may be. That doesn't mean I spend all day in this state (at least I hope not) but I find it relaxing and helpful before falling off to sleep. What do I dream about? Shhh that would be telling. . . . .

Y:  Youth, (as in mis-spent?) and Years (as in age) If only I could go back forty years knowing what I know now there is so much I'd have done differently, so many mistakes I hope I wouldn't make again but, fortunately I'm basically a happy person and normally look on the bright side.

And my victims, if they wish to take up the challenge are:

Derek

Guyana Gyal

John-G

Keith

Meredic

Looking forward to seeing what each of you will make of this meme. Have fun.

Well, I'm back and the first thing on the agenda is a really BIG THANK YOU to Keith for all his hard work improving the appearance of the main page and for guest blogging during the holiday. More about that later.

Meanwhile it was back to normal today with a trip to the hospital for Whale,  going to get the car back from the garage with Jay and generally trying to catch up with washing, post and phonecalls. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll start telling you about the holiday. Suffice to say I'm really pleased to be home.

It was Yaxlich who wrote about some of the search words that  led people to his blog and sometimes, out of interest, I look at the google results that bring visitors to click on my site (and then, more often than not,  go away immediately.)

Surprisingly, the words that crop up most regularly are 'yellow basilicon', followed closely by 'normacol'.

As far as I know, yellow basilicon is no longer available but during my childhood my gran and mum used it regularly to draw out offending splinters or even bits of glass. Splap on a good helping, cover with a plaster and leave overnight. It worked like magic.

You could still get it when my children were little and there was always a jar in my medicine cupboard. It's hard to say when it disappeared off the chemists' shelves - or why, for that matter - but I haven't seen any for years. Apparently other people miss it too.

'Normacol' searchers rarely stay to read about Whale's exploits. No doubt they just want straightforward medical data but I do wonder  why anyone would search for 'tetanus jab in bum'.

It's strange how you can become 'involved' with people you have never met. Since blogging I have become interested in all the people in my 'bloggie friends' list and although we don't know each other personally I'm sure we'd have much to chat about if we ever came face to face - and, dare I say I think with most of them it would feel like meeting up with an old friend.

Something strange is affecting some of my favourite bloggers recently. Yaxlich describes it as a lost mojo.

Ever since he found his new job he has lost the will to amuse us with his tales in the third person. Does this mean he is too busy? Provided he's happily occupied then I'm pleased for him but if he's just too tired to muster his thoughts when he gets home then I hope he manages to improve his lifestyle.

Wendz has given up blogging now that she has moved to London. Once again I wonder if it's because she is too busy coming to terms with her new life. Moving is a pretty traumatic experience but changing countries, living a long way from your children and making a fresh start in London must be extremely daunting. It might give her plenty of material to blog about but leave her with no energy to do it.

Guyana Gyal and Keith are both 'resting' for a while. G-G has a unique style and a wonderful sense of humour. I do hope she'll soon bounce back and tell us some more of her stories .

Keith is a whizz on the computer and has created a really interesting background for his blog, Smithy Lane. He can write with humour or with serious commonsense, depending on the topic so I hope he'll be back to share his thoughts with us all again before long.

I'm not going to delete anyone from my list just yet. I'm waiting in hopes.

P.S Take a look at some recent additions: 'Almost American', 'As time Goes by' and 'Millie'.

As it the holiday season - even though summer weather is in short supply - several bloggers seem to be taking a break.

One person on my list, though, is giving grave cause for concern. It's Yaxlich. Ever since he lost his mojo back in May he has not written much at all. No doubt lots of his readers are missing him and I just hope he is OK.

Keith, Wendz and Pat ( links on right of page) are taking a short break but the rest of us are soldiering on.

You may have noticed that I've added French Windows to my list. Despite trying to keep my daily reading manageable and not too time consuming I couldn't resist this interesting and informative blog by Gigi.

When my Harry Potter 7 arrives (hopefully on Monday) I may well be otherwise engaged for a few days too.

I was really thrilled this morning to find that Keith has made me a banner and put it on his blog.

Despite the fact that he is older than I am he has thoroughly mastered computer technology and his blog is full of innovations that you wouldn't find on a 'readymade' blog like this one.

There was I feeling quite proud of myself for finally working out how to manage links and a favourites list and then I come across several retired bloggers who are so much more advanced.

Pat sometimes admits she has technical hitches but she's far ahead of me and Claude also has a most attractive blog.

It's an absorbing pastime, searching for new blogs, but I mustn't find too many regular reads or nothing else will get done. However, it does inspire me to try to improve.

What I really need is a few lessons from Keith but he's too far away.